Soft Skills to Know: Accepting Feedback

Ouch—constructive feedback! You will find plenty of tips on giving feedback so a well-meaning critique is received and understood, but less help on how to be a good receiver of feedback or having your reviewer feel welcomed back. Accepting feedback is a soft skill that will elevate your reputation. Employers love employees who receive feedback well because it helps drive productivity. This makes “the ability to accept feedback” important in many annual reviews. Keys to becoming a feedback dynamo: 1) Remember, no one enjoys constructive feedback that challenges their predetermined notion of a job well done. It’s a shocker. So, accept that life includes this reality. 2) Nearly all reviewers experience anxiety associated with giving constructive feedback. Empathy for this role will give you a shot at eliminating defensiveness, set your reviewer at ease, and seal your reputation as having an outstanding ability to accept constructive feedback. 3) Prepare yourself for constructive feedback by consciously deciding to appear excited to get it, to discover what you don’t know, to be inquisitive, to thank the reviewer, and to not dwell on disappointing news.

 

Tracy Bussey | 8/28/2016

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